Copying-press



E Z am Fig.2.

Inventor gem Witnesses l I .imm

oALvIN ADAM's, or Prr'rseURo, PENNSYLVANIA.

A 'COPYING-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,438, dated January 24, 1854.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CALVIN ADAMS, of

clare that the following is a full and exact description of theconstruction and operation thereof, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, forming part of this specij- I p screw d, prevents thepressing plate 6, slipfication, in which- Figure 1, is a perspectiveview of my copying press withthe pressing plate closed, 5 and the leverpressed downbythe cam lever. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of press, withj the several parts in the same position as in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 1s aperspective view of my press, with the pressing "plate opened or raisedand the cam lever thrown back.

Figs. 4 and 5 are elevations of my press,

designed to show the mode of raising the upper pressing platesuflicientlyto receive the copying book without lifting it up as shownin Fig. 3. v I

The same letters m te several figures refer to similar parts of thepress. My improvement I consists in connecting the upper platen or plateof the press to the lower plate by a hinge, either attached immediatelyto the upper platen, or to a lever bar which carries it, so that theupper platen may be raised or opened like a b'ook to receive the copyingb'ook. Also in the mode of giving the requisite pressure by the use of acam working on the extremity of a lever, in combination with a screw toad just the press to any required thickness of book to be used, ordegree of pressure to be employed. Also in the contrivance for raisingthe upper pressingplate sufficiently to admit of slipping the copyingbook between the upper and lower platen by merely throwing back the camlever, to avoid the necessity of opening the upper platen by hand.

I will now proceed to describe more particularly the construction andoperation of my improved press.

In the several drawings a, is the lever platen or plate of my press,which is made suificiently strong to sustain the strain or pressure towhich it is subjected: to one side of the plate a are attached theuprights b, b, to the top of which is attached by a hinge the lever bar0, which extends, horizontally across the press. Through the center ofthis lever bar 0, passes I .justing scr-ew, d, which is turned bypassing a pin through a hole m, in its head or by a key or wrench. Thelower end of this screw which projects below the under side of t leverbar 0', is smooth, having no threads cut in it this portion. of thescrew passes through a hole, through the center of the "upper pressingplate a; a shoulder on the upper part of the smooth portion 0t the pingup, and communicates the pressureof the leverbar 0, to the center of theupper pressingplate 6. Anutf, screws on to the end of the screw on theunderside of the upper pressing plate e, and when screwed up iscountersunkin the under side of the causing the plate 6, to turn aroundwith the 1 turning of the screwj cl. On the'opposite side of the lowerplate a, are the uprights g, 9', through the topof .which a pin orpivoth, passes which sustains and forms the fulcrum of the cam lever 71.The turn ing point it ofthe cam lever 2', is at such a relative heightto the hinge of the lever bar 0, that when the lever bar 0, is on ahorizontal position across the press or nearly so,-the end of the leverb2116 isiminediat 1 ;ii1ider the Can; of the lever 2'. Th'e ca'm at theen d' or the leverof such -a shape that the lever is thrown back, asshown in Fig. 3-, the end of the lever bar 0 is free, but as the leveris brought over the pressure begins and gradually increases until thelever is pressed down to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 whenthepressure on the end of the lever bar 0 is the greatest.

As the point of greatest pressure of the cam, and the turning point ofthe lever bar I answer only for one thickness of book and a fixed degreeof pressure. But this difiiculty is obviated by the adjusting screw d,which raises or lowers the upper platen 6, so as to adjust the distancebetween the upper and lower platens to suit any desired thick ness ofcopying book. The pressure is com munioated by the cam lever, andleverbar, through the screw d to the'center of the pressing plate a, so thatthe pressure is uni forth at all points of the pressing plate '0,

I and as the lever bar when pressed down by the cam of the lever z' ishorizontal and parallel to the lower plate a, or very nearly so, theupper pressing plate 6 whether raised or lowered by the screw d, (whichworks perpendicularly or at right angles to the lower bar 0,) is alsoparallel to the lower pressing plate, any slight variation from ahorizontal position of the lever bar 0, when subjected to the pressureof the cam lever 2', or inequality in the thickness of the. two sides ofthe copying book used, being compensated for by making the smooth partof the screw to fit loosely in the hole in the center of the upperpressing plate 6.

When it is desired to use my press, the

cam lever z, is thrown back and the lever bar 0, carrying theupp'er'pressing plate e,.is

raised, as shown in Fig. 3. The copying book is then placed in thecenter of the lower pressing plate a. The lever bar 0,. and

upper pressing plate are shut down,and the structed my press that whenthe cam lever 71, is thrown back, a finger In, which projects frombehind the cam, see Figs. t and 5, passes under the joint of the leverbar 6, between it and the pin or rest Z, and slightly raises the leverbar 0, but sufficiently to elevate the upper platen so far above thelower platen as to admit of the copying book being inserted between theplatens, or

withdrawn from the press as the case may be. The pin Z, serves as a restto support the end of the lever bar when the copying book is removedfrom the press, and prevents the lever bar when the copying book isremoved, fromfalling so low down as to be beyond the reach of the finger70, but it is not made so high as that the pin will touch the end of thelever bar a, when the copying book is inserted and the upper platen ispressed down by the cam lever.

The action and mode of using my press is otherwise the same ashereinbefore described.

The advantages of my improved press are the facility of placing andremoving the copying book in the press; the increased pressure given bythe combination of the lever and cam; and the compactness and simplicityof construction as compared with other presses, used for the likepurpose.

. What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent'isThe combination of the lever bar and upper pressing plate, connected bymeans of the adjusting screw, and the mode of com.-

municating pressure to the upper. pressing plate by means of a cam atthe end of a lever,

working at the end of the lever bar which sustains the upper'pressingplate; also the use of the finger at the end of the cam lever incombination with the rest and the other parts of the press for thepurpose of raising the upper platen of the press and sustaining it inits place while the copying book is inserted or withdrawn substantiallyin the manner and for thepurpose hereinbefore set forth.

CALVIN ADAMS.

Test:

B. B. CAMPBELL, WM. N. HOWARD.

